MIRI: In welcoming the coming year 2024, Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew has told Sarawakians to remain united.
“Time flies very fast, in the blink of an eye we have come to the end of 2023 and start welcoming the New Year 2024,” he said.
He also called on Sarawakians to maintain a spirit of perseverance in the challenging environment and continue to defend Sarawak’s good values of peace, harmony and mutual respect.
“We should not and must not allow anyone to destroy the long-established foundation of harmony and peace in Sarawak. Let us remain a model of harmonious pluralism in the country or even to the world,” he said.
He said with unity and peace as well as political stability, Sarawak Gbugan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government can truly focus on realising various development agendas and continue to demand the return of Sarawak rights and interests enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963, the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report and the Cobbold Committee Report, especially the autonomy of health, education and special grant to Sarawak and Sabah under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution.
“During the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting this year, Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg had presented and approved by the DUN on November 29, a State Budget of RM12.363 billion for 2024, the biggest ever budget in Sarawak’s history,” he stated.
Ting, who is also the Deputy Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, added the projected revenue for 2024 is RM12.749 billion, therefore it is a surplus budget of RM386 million.
He pointed out importantly, on December 25, the Premier said Sarawak recorded RM13.1 billion in revenue for the whole of 2023, above what was estimated.
“This is indeed wonderful news because if we follow the latest projection, it is very likely we will have more revenue in 2024, hence more surplus.
“The biggest budget is thanks to the success of Sarawak GPS government in revenue engineering and prudent financial management. This is a people-centric budget that emphasises on investing heavily in infrastructures and places the well-being of the rakyat at its centerpiece,” he said.
Ting disclosed Sarawak’s main source of revenue came from State Sales Tax (SST).
“For example, in 2023, we collected in total RM4.231 billion from SST alone and of that, RM3.424 billion is from the exported petroleum products. The rest are from crude palm oil and palm kernel oil, aluminium, lottery and others.
“We must always remember that when the Pakatan Harapan government came to power in 2018, Sarawak’s power to levy sales tax on petroleum products was strongly rejected by them. However, with strong unity and determination by GPS leaders, Sarawak government successfully defended the rights and interests of the people of Sarawak and we won our Sarawak rights through court proceedings,” Ting said.
He added Sarawak’s power to collect sales tax on petroleum products would surely benefit Sarawakians for generations to come.
“We must always remember this lesson. Only local political parties can truly defend our rights and interests. If we maintain such a strong unity, no one can exploit our rights and interests,” he emphasised.
The GPS government also takes step to safeguard the economic prosperity for the future with the establishment of the Sarawak Sovereign Wealth Future Fund which is going to be operational in 2024.
The DUN approved the initial appropriation of RM8 billion to the Sarawak Sovereign Fund where it is expected to grow sustainably through prudent and professional investments, Ting said.
“The Sarawak Sovereign Fund belongs to the Sarawak government and with a committee made up of experts and professionals in the fields of finance, investment, law and governance, I am sure it will be well managed in a professional and transparent manner to ensure continuation of economic prosperity for the future generation,” he said.
Furthermore, he was pleased to note that RM52 million is allocated to Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) and Business Events Sarawak next year for operations, marketing and promotion.
In addition, the 2024 Budget provides RM200 million for the implementation of various tourism programmes and development projects for new tourism attractions and upgrade the existing facilities.
Ting said that the tourism sector in 2024 would be better and more prosperous.
“For Sarawak, we had successfully achieved the target of 3 million visitors in 2023.
“Indeed, by first week of November 2023, we had over 3.17 million tourist arrivals. So next year our Ministry is targeting to achieve 4 million visitors. We believe we can achieve the target as we have several major national and international events lining up next year and with the continual strong support from the industry players, we will definitely achieve the target,” he disclosed.
Hence, the ministry is hoping to see more industry players to continue innovating and launching new exciting tourism products to attract tourists.
“The Sarawak government will provide all the support to the industry players and assist in promoting tourism products to the international market,” he said.
On the other hand, Ting has also reminded Sarawakians to be cautious of COVID-19 while travelling especially in crowded places.
“Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Institute of Health and Community Medicine Director Prof Dr David Perera said they had detected Omicron strain HK.3 and JN.1 in Sarawak, particularly Kuching and Samarahan,” he said.
It is predicted that the number of cases will increase due to the holiday season and the coming Chinese New Year celebration.
“For the time being, fellow Sarawakians should be encouraged to wear face mask especially at crowded places and follow the TRIIS steps, which means, Test, Report to MySejahtera app, Isolate, Inform close contact and Seek treatment,” Ting reminded.
The Sarawak government is closely monitoring the spread of COVID-19 and has allocated RM 4.85 million in preparation for a surge of cases in Sarawak.
“This helps to strengthen our response measures which include purchasing the Paxlovid antiviral drugs for COVID-19.This is another measure taken by the Sarawak GPS government to show concern and care for the people. No other states in the country are doing it, only the Sarawak government has acted so proactively and quickly,” he said.
